Brookfield Multiplex has been appointed as the contractor for RMIT Universitys $200+ million development for the landmark Swanston Academic Building.

Designed by Melbourne firm Lyons, the 11-storey building will wrap around the historic Oxford Scholar hotel on Swanston Street. The 35,000 square-metre building, which will be the home for RMITs College of Business, will be one of the largest teaching facilities in Australia.

{youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIi4-w2YmZ0}

RMIT Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Margaret Gardner AO, said the appointment of Brookfield Multiplex was another step forward in the renewal of RMITs campus through exciting architecture.

As the centrepiece of our $600 million investment in the RMIT Quarter of the CBD, the Swanston Academic Building sets the standard for innovative design that supports teaching and learning through new collaborative pedagogies.

Lyons design will work together with the nearby Design Hub, designed by Sean Godsell Architects and currently under construction at the former CUB site, to reinvigorate the north end of Swanston Street with exciting architecture that fires the imagination of students and the wider public, said Gardner.

The new building façade will be studded with angular sun shades, while a two-storey cantilevered social space will protrude out over Swanston Street. On the street level, parts of Swanston Street will be pedestrianised to provide new public space beside the City Baths, described as a tree-lined urban promenade.

The design for the building includes leading-edge teaching and learning spaces, and a minimum 5-star environmental design under the Green Star Education Rating Scheme.

hairdresser
September 28th, 2010 12:48 am

Nice to see it from the the angle of a blowfly following its nose.
Great to see RMIT championing post modernism….still.